<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>begin again by Anonymous</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26541454">begin again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/'>Anonymous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stranger Things (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adopted Children, Adoption, Eleven | Jane Hopper Goes by Eleven or El, Gen, Jewish Character, Jewish Identity, No Incest, No Romance, Siblings Will Byers &amp; Eleven | Jane Hopper, bc yall are FREAKS n i gotta put tht on everything i write w families smh, cinnamon bc i made cinnamon swirl challah n it was sO GOOD, el is short for eleanor, on anon bc bitch i got ANXIETY, there is one (1) cuss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:01:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>563</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26541454</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>With Lonnie out of the picture for good, Joyce decides to make a Jewish home for her children.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Joyce Byers &amp; Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers &amp; Eleven | Jane Hopper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Anonymous, Days Of Awesome, DaysOfAwesome 2020 (5781)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>begin again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>El glances at Will beside her. "What is she doing?"</p><p>"Making bread," Will answers. "Apparently her family did it every Friday."</p><p>"Why didn't she do it before?"</p><p>Will shrugs and makes a face.</p><p>Joyce looks up for a moment, still with flour streaked across her cheek. "El, sweetie, can you get me the cinnamon out of the cabinet?"</p><p>"Cinnamon." El opens the cupboard and scans the bottles of spices. "S?"</p><p>"C, honey."</p><p>"Honey is on the counter."</p><p>"No — hun, cinnamon is spelled with a C."</p><p>"Oh." She pulls a bottle from the shelf and hands it off. "Sorry."</p><p>"Don't be sorry, sweetie." Joyce pauses to kiss her daughter's forehead. "Thank you."</p><p>El hums softly before going back to the table to finish her homework.</p><p>Will's gaze moves from his mother to El and back again. He clears his throat. "So, uh . . . What's the occasion?"</p><p>"Hm?" A strand of hair falls from Joyce's messy bun. She tucks it behind her ear. "Oh. Well, I guess. I dunno. I just figured —" She sighs, setting her mixing bowl aside. "Did you ever-? I mean, I know you were closest with Mike and Dustin and Lucas, but, were you ever friends with any of the Jewish kids in your classes?"</p><p>"There were Jewish kids in Hawkins?"</p><p>"Gonna take that as a no." Joyce sits at the table, across from her kids. It's clear to her that El is listening even though the girl hasn't looked up. "But, to answer your question, yes. Maybe just not your age." Another sigh. How best to explain this to two kids entering their teenage years, one of whom should have already had his bar mitzvah? It had been easier with Jonathan; he was older and more understanding of this kind of thing. "I ask because I was raised Jewish, and I still consider myself a Jew, even though I was . . . distant from it, after marrying your dad. He didn't see a point in religion, and I just- I couldn't fight him on it forever."</p><p>"So," El says softly after a moment, "is Will a Jew?"</p><p>"I mean," Joyce sighs. "It's very complicated. By birth, yes. He's a member of the Horowitz family, and that makes him a Jew. But he wasn't raised with it, so . . ."</p><p>El nods. "What about Jonathan?"</p><p>"Jonathan is still thinking about what it means for him. I've invited him to come to a synagogue I found tonight — and Will, you can too, of course; both of you can — but for now, it's still complicated."</p><p>El licks her lips. She sets down her pencil. "And . . . me?"</p><p>Joyce pauses. "You're my daughter, Eleanor Hopper," she says, and reaches out to put a hand on El's. </p><p>"But by birth. Jonathan and Will are-"</p><p>"You're still a member of the family," Will says. "Just 'cause you're adopted doesn't change that."</p><p>"Horowitz?"</p><p>"Yeah." Joyce squeezes her hand affectionately. "That's my family, and so are you."</p><p>El's brows knit together. "I can come?"</p><p>"If you want to."</p><p>A quick glance at Will, and he puts a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Sounds like fun."</p><p>El nods. "Tonight?"</p><p>"Yeah. It's not for a few hours; that's part of why I'm making challah."</p><p>El blinks. She makes a drawn-out noise in the back of her throat like she's going to cough up a hairball, and Joyce laughs. </p><p>"Just like that, sweets."</p><p>"Holy shit, Ellie-"</p><p>"Will!"</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>